Not What You Wanted
'Not What You Wanted '''is the fifty-seventh chapter in ''Last Argument of Kings. Chapter Summary Having slept awkwardly, Glokta wakes in agony, his leg spasming badly. He wails for his servant Barnam to help him, but it’s actually Ardee who comes through the door. Ignoring his protests, she lifts his shit daubed sheets, and presses her thumbs into his anguished leg. Gradually the muscle eases, and Glokta collapses into the bed. He laments that he never wanted her to see him like this, but Ardee takes his head in her hands, and tells him she fully intends to make the most of their marriage.1 Arch Lector Glokta’s first visit of the day is with Queen Terez. He finds her in her salon with Lady Shalere, who makes no effort to hide her disgust at the cripple. Glokta brings up the subject of the Queen’s wifely duties. As the ladies bridle at his bluntness, Glokta notices the doting touches between the Queen and her childhood friend. The cogs turn, and Glokta has a solution to his latest dilemma. Terez’ lover is taken into custody, only to be released when the Queen is with child. Terez’ body deflates as she agrees to the Arch Lector’s demands for four royal offspring.2 Later, after the next Closed Council, Lord Chamberlain Hoff pulls the Arch Lector aside incensed at Glokta’s solution to the Ardee West problem. However, Glokta shows no mercy in sending the Lord Chamberlain scurrying away with his tail between his legs for threatening his wife and his unborn child. That night, Terez meekly enters the King’s bedchamber and with consummate acting takes Jezal into her bed. The next day, Jezal grudgingly thanks Glokta for his intervention. The conversation turns to the reconstruction of Adua, with the King wanting to revisit the idea of taxing the banks and merchants. However, Glokta gently dismisses the idea as inviting another visit by the Magus. Maybe they can do something small later, Bayaz surely can’t see everything, can he? Characters Locations and Terms References # After a steady diet of misery and abuse, Ardee earns her happy ending. Married to Glokta, a husband who respects and cares for her, will never hurt her, and is not a shallow ass. Their romance was one of the more touching aspects of the story. You've gotta be a little worried about the child of a drunk and a torturer, but hey good luck with your endeavors, kid. # So Jezal and Terez are going to continue on as essentially prisoners together, and unhappy in general. She'll pop out her kids and then Jezal will take mistresses like every other king. I think I should have been offended by Glokta’s ultimatum, but Abercrombie has made Terez wholly unlikable. Abercrombie himself has expressed some disappointment with Terez and Shalere "ultra one-dimensional icy bitchy beautiful caricatures and also, looked at in hindsight, conforming to nasty lesbians put in their places stereotypes that I can hardly believe I didn’t notice at the time." Category:Chapter